Location: International Democratic Union

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The United States of Festive Old Folks is a massive, safe nation, ruled by His Holliness The Head Nurse with an even hand, and notable for its restrictive gun laws. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 3.285 billion are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt, pro-business government stops and the rest of society begins, but it concentrates mainly on Defence, although Law & Order and Healthcare are on the agenda. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Nursinghomia. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 69%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, followed by Information Technology and Uranium Mining.

Politicians are to be found scavenging bins at night to supplement their income, teams of painters are converting road signs from horse lengths to kilometers, colleges adhere to rigid ethnic quotas for admissions, and parents live in fear of governmental 'child protection' squads. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Festive Old Folks's national animal is the grandchild, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the dencher.

Festive Old Folks is ranked 2nd in International Democratic Union and 1,476th in the world for Largest Insurance Industry, scoring 10 on the Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and